Drain valve apparatus



0d. 24,4 1944. CANET-TA 2,361,84

DRAIN VALVE AFPARATUS Filed May 3l, 1943 56 3? 47 45 I 4o 34 W A W 333/,53 Ka2 5 ,aa i? JOHN CANETTA aim ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 24, 1944UNITED STATES PATENT OSFF ICE 2.361.084 f v l DRAIN VALVE APPARATUSJo'hn Canetta, Wilknsburg1a., assigner* to The Westinghouse BrakeCompany, Wilmer'- din'g, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania.

Application May 31,y 1943, Serial-.Nm 489,181

7 Claims.

'I hisr inventionV relates to drain valve apparatus. for receptaclescontaining. fluid under pressure.v

and more particularly toa drain valve equipment embodying means foreffecting periodic operation thereof at predetermined intervals.

The receiving reservoirs of a compressed air.

system, such as the main reservoirs or aftercoolers associated. with anair brake system on alocomotive, are customarily equipped with drainvalve devices which are designed for operation from time to timetoeject. condensate accumulating within the receptacle. It has beenfound.

desirable to. provide. such drain Valve devices with means automaticallyoperative to cause periodic operation atpredetermined intervals., Theprincipal object of. my invention is to provide an improved automaticdrain valvel apparatusembodying a uid pressure actuated'tiin-- ingmechanism, which` may be employed on a` locomotive throughout a longservice period without requiring expensive repairs or adjustments..

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatusof the abovedescription includingv atimingvalve mechanismoperative at predeterminedintervals to effect quick, positive movement of.. the discharging valveportion. of the drain valve device associated with the pressurereservoir. n

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in. the.following more detailed description thereof,` taken.. in connection withthe.

The equipment. illustrated in schematicv form in Fig. 1 of the drawing.comprises a main reservoir l, which is adapted to be charged with com-vpressed4 air by means of` a suitable compressor, not shown, andwhichhas. associated therewith a iiuid pressure actuated drain. valvedevice' 2..

and a timing valve device 4. It will be understood that in actualpractice'. the drain valve.

device and timing valve device may be associated with more than onemainreservoir, orwith an aftercooler or'the'like, depending upon the.equipment. carried by the locomotive.

The drain.. valve device 2. comprises; a casing-r section 5 suitablysecuredv to the bottomof. the..

main reservoir I, a casing section l boltedto the casing. section 5,and. a... flexible diaphragm l which is clamped! between the two casing.sections ina canted. position,. forming on one side thereof a pressurechamber 8. and'. on the opposite side aa chamber 9 communicating. with.a. drainage tube I0. FormedA in the. casing. section. 5. is. acondensateA collecting chamber I2 which. communicatesby way of'a.passage I3' with the interior ofthe mainreservor l. A. bore I connectsthe. chamber i2. with a.l valve. chamber t5.. also formed in. thecasing,section andi com` municating by way.` of. aborel I6. with the chaire ber9. A double valvezelement, I8 disposed within the valvey chamber. l5..isleng-ageable with a seat I9 for controlling communication vbetween thechambers. I2 and` l5.. or. alternatively with a valve seat 20. for.controlling. communication between chambers. I5 ands. Thev double valveelement, I8. is supported through. the medium of.l a flutedy stem23.s1idabl'y ttingthebore I'4`, and` asimilar stem 24 slidably.mounted.' in the other ajo bore I6, it. being noted that. the valveelement and. stems. are.: inclined. in.. alignment with. the. axis ofthe cantecl.. diaphragm 'L4 The flutedstem. 24. operatively engages. aVfollower member' 25' whichis attached to the diaphragm 1, and which issubject. to the force exerted by a coil spring 2.6- interposed betweenthe follower element and the'. upper wall. ofY the. chamber 9. Thespring 26 normally urges. diaphragm 'l' downwardlyV and into. engagementwitha stop portion 21 ofthe casing.. A coil spring. 28 is interposedbetween the nuted stem. 23` and" an upper wall of the chamber |2`iorurging. the double. valve elementr I8.. downwardly into engagement. withthe seat 2`U.as shownin the drawinain which position' oi the valveelement communication is main-1y tainedbetween the Chambers I5 and |2`.

The timingy valve. device 4' has a casing struc ture. comprisingamainsection 30 having.' an end' wallA 3l and. a. centralA wall 32, andcarrying. at'

theI open .end a. cover. section 33", and supporting. acasing section34` adjacent the wall 31. Formed" in` the. casing, section.: 314 is. a`valve chamber 315.y whichcommunicates. by way. of. a passage forming.` a.valve seat. 38.* with a timing chamber 39; withinv thev casingsection3.,.and,a1so. by way. of'

wall 32 andathefcover. section 33-is formed` a bore...

ber 39, Where' theendof 'the lrod isfsecured tok a cage structure 53having an interior chamber spring 54 is adapted to yield upon movementof the valve 56 to seated position in order to compensate for thesomewhat greater traverse of the valve piston 46.

The pressure of uid supplied to the pressure chamber 8 of the drainvalve device 2 meanwhile operates the diaphragm 1, follower member 25,

' and stem 24 to shift the double valve element I8 containing a spring54. Ihe spring 54 is adapted to bear against a collar formed on the endor a valve stem 55 which is operatively mounted fthe cage structure 53and terminates in a valve, 56, which is disposed in the.`l valve chamber31- and is adapted-for engagementwithntheseat..

'It will be noted that with tljleA relatively Vlarge valve piston 46held against the seatfrib- 41 by unseated position.

Referringag'ain to the valvepiston 46, tfwill be observed-thatthiselement is cylindrical in shape, f`in i"that'` the open endthereof'opposite the'portion en'gaigeablewiththe seat rib 41 carries an annularrib-'60, whoh isadapted to be moved intoI engagementwith anv annulargasket 6I carried'by the'jcover section' 3 3-'for controllingcommunication between` alportfz in the casing and the bore'45`, which'is at all 'tir'nesl open toI the atmosphere by wayofja'restrictedexhaust passage I`3lfA Thel port 62 'co'mmuriicatesby Way of apipe 65 withthe pressure chamber'ioi the drain valvev device 2, and isalsof open `to the vatrnospl'iere through'afchoke`66 connected'to thepipe. One end of thev4 port 62 is'fadapted lt'ojbe' uncovered,y upony'r'novement 'of the valve piston'j46 tothe right, to establishcommunication"between'4 thepipe 65 and a chamber'48'formedfbetweenv theend vfac of the valve piston 'andth'efwall 32'.-

operation, fluidsupplied-under pressure to the'mainfres'ervir I' no ws'jtherefrom by'way of ber39, at arate determined Aby-the size of thelrestricted"l passage. jThe VYgradually increasing pressure 'of'u'i'dfthe',v timing chamber 39 acts against'theportionoithevalve piston 46exposed withintle sean rib j41luntiL-after a predetermined interval,`this'l fluid 'pressurefbeoomes "highenough limitedasto permit theuinitial increase in fluid pressure "thechamber" '8; necessary to feifectimmediate operation ofthe drain valve 'de'vice Atthejsame timef-'as thevalve piston 46 moves tb'tlle right, as'vewd iff-Figli, `tllevalv'e 555operativelyconnected thereto is brought into seatl ing engagement withthe seat 38 for=cutting offl further supply-of fluid 'undenpressure fromthe main reservoir I v tothe-timing ch-amberl39.A '-The 75k awayfrom thelower seat 2Il,`and into engage? ment with the upper seat I9, inopposition to the combined forces of the springs 26 and 28. As the ydouble valve element I8 traverses the distance between the two seats,the pressure of uid contained in the main reservoir I acts against thewater which has accumulated in the chambers I2 and I5 to effect quickdischarge thereof, the

water being vdriven out past the valve seat 20 and through the chamber 9and drainage tube I0.

the spring 49, the valve 56 is maintained Itwillbe `understood that thismovement of the doublevalve yelement I8 into engagement with the upperseat I9 is accomplished quickly, so that the amount of compressed uidrequired for the operation to expel'the condensate is limited.

Since the rvalve56 has been operated to cut off the supplyof'compressedflu'id from thev main reservoir, as just explained, theyquantity'of compressed fluid bottled up in the timing'chamber 39 andinthe communications therefrom leading to the pressure chamber 8 of thedrain valve de- I vice is gradually reduced by flow fromthe pipe tion inthe-fluid pressure in the chamber 48 acting on the valve `piston 46 thespring 49 is rendered'eiective to move the'valve piston into engagemenfIwith the seatl rib 41, thus reestablishing communication between theport 62 and the atmospheric exhaustpassage v63. The pressure f of fluidin the diaphragm chamber 8 of the drain valve device V2 isl then reducedtofthat of 4the atmosphere, andthe springs 28, and26 again becomeeffective to move the double valve 'element I8' and theas'sociatedelements downwardly into the position in which they are'shownk in'Fig.l. While the double valve element I8 isV thus moved from the scarl I9 tothe seat 2U, it effectsl another discharge ofy accumulated condensatefrom the chamber I2,`as hereinbefore `explained.'

The various elements vof the drain valve appara-tus 'are thus returnedto their: initial positions, ready for the next cycle of operation.

n Embodiment in Figure 2 'I'n Fig. f2 of the drawing there isillustrated a different form of timing valve device'10, which, like' thetiming valve device'4 of- Fig. 1,'is adapted to be associatedwith a mainreservoir and drain valve device,'the latter elements of the complete dapparatus having been omitted in this view.4 It

cl evir :'e` 2y the elements of "which willffb'e under s'toodto have'been initially positionedas shown" lflfF'gL 1f" It Will'be 'apparentxthat" altli0l1'g'l1'l'ludl under@ pressure is 'meanwhile graduallyvented f'rforri j'the'ipipe'm'i through' the 'restricted branchvcommunication 66j`the rate: of` such 'venting' is so will be understoodthat the 4'I`a shown in Fig. 2 is adapted to, be connected .to :the mainreservoir, and that the pipe 65a is arranged tob'e connected to thepressure chamber of the ,drain4 valve device, which is adapted tofunction in cooperation with Vthe timing valve device 10 lin the samemanner as has been described in connection with the similar equipmentshown in Fig. ,1. AThe timing valve device 1I] comprises afppe, bracket12 to which the pipes65av and .,f4la may be attached anda casingrsection 13 mounted .on the pipe bracket and '.having formed thereinaspring chamber 14,=a=valve, chamberj15.,fand a piston valve bores16ythats arrangedsubstantially in alignment'wwith the chambers.v Q;i;

Mounted in the valve chamber'15 is a valve element 19, which isengageable with a seat rib 80 and has a fluted stem 8| slidably disposedlin a bore 82 connecting the valve chamber with the spring chamber 14,the valve element being thus disposed to control communication betweenthe two chambers. A plunger 83 and biasing spring 82 are operativelylmounted within the spring chamber 14, the spring being arranged to actthrough the medium of the plunger and stem 8| for urging the valve 19away from the seat 80. The spring chamber 14 is connected to the mainreservoir pipe 4|a, by way of a passage 84 having a restricted portion85. Suitable air straining means 85 may be interposed in the passage 84,if desired.

Also mounted in the valve chamber 15 is a valve element 89, which isadapted to engage a seat 90 for controlling communication from theVvalve chamber by way of a bore 9| to apassageway 92, which in turncommunicates with the drain valve pipe 65a and with a restrictedatmospheric exhaust port 93.

For actuating the abutting valve elements 19 and 89 there is provided avalve piston 95, which is slidably mounted in the bore 16 and has formedon the upper side thereof a spring chamber 91 communicating with anatmospheric exhaust passage 98, and at the lower side thereof a chamber99, which communicates with a timing chamber |90 formed in the pipebracket 12. At the side adjacent the chamber 99, the valve piston 95carries an annular seat rib |02, which is adapted to engage a gasket |03while the piston valve is in the position in which it is shown in Fig.2. An annular `seat rib |05 is formed on the valve piston within thechamber 91, which seat rib is adapted for engagement with a gasket |06upon upward movement of the element. as hereinafter explained. A coilspring |98 is interposed between the upper wall of the chamber 91 and acentral wall |09 of the valve piston 95 for biasing it downwardly. Thevalve piston 95 is operatively associated with the valve element 89through ,the medium of a plungerl engageable with the stem of the valveelement, and a coil spring ||2, which is interposed between the enlargedlower end of the plunger and an interior wall of the valve. element, theplunger being guided in a suitable bore formed in the wall |09.

It wm be understood that the valve piston 95 v chamber |00 which isconnected to the chamber 99 also communicates with the valve chamber 15by way of a passage ||1 having a restricted portion ||8. A branch ||9 ofthe passage ||1 bypasses the restricted portion ||8 and opens into thevalve chamber 15 by way of a port which is normally closed by a ballcheck-valve |20.

In principle, the operation of the timing valve device 10 is similar tothat of the corresponding device 4 shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. Fluidunder pressure is supplied from the main' reservoir by way of the pipeAla. and flows through the passage 84 having the restricted portion 85to the chamber 14, and thence through the bore 82 and past the normallyunseated valve element 19 to the valve chamber 15. vWith the valveelement 89 and ball check valve |20 seated as shown in Fig. 2, iiuidunder pressure can ow from the valve chamber 15 onlythrough the passager|"|1 having the restricted portion IlA to the timing chamber |00, andto the chamber 99 beneath the valve piston 95. -The pressure of vfluidin the' timing chamber |00-and chamber 99 is gradually increased duringanA interval of timel determined by the rate of flow through therestricted passage I8, and when this fluid pressure becomeshigh enoughto overcome the downwardfforce of the spring |88,the valve piston 95 islifted tol expose thel full pressure area thereof to the chamber 99, andis then quickly forced to its upper seated position. Upward movement ofthe-valve piston95is transmitted through the medium of the coil spring||2 and plunger I |A to the valve elements 89 and 19, which arethereby'raised to their unseated and seated positions, respectively. Thevalve element 19 is thus positioned `for cutting 01T further supply offluid underpressure from the main reservoir to the valvevchamber' 15,while the valve element 89 establishes com`` munication fromthe valvechamber to the pas-l sage 92 leading by way of pipe 65a to the operatiing chamber of the associated drain valve device. The drain valve deviceis thereby operated to ejectr condensate as hereinbefore explained inconnection with the apparatus shown in Fig.' l.,v The compressed uideifective invcausilgtheoperation of the drain'valvevr device as just eX-plained is supplied from the timing chamber |00 by way of the passage||1, branch ||'9, and past the ball check valve |20, which isunseatedfto allow the air to flow at a faster rate than can be obtainedby way of the restricted passage ||8 alone.

The pressure actuated elements of the drain valve device are thanmaintained in the positions to which they have been forced under thepressure of fluid in pipe 65a for a predetermined interval of time,which is terminated when the gradual venting of fluid through restrictedport 93 has reduced the fluid pressure in the connected chambers 15,|09, and 99, suiciently'to permit the spring |08 to movel the valvepiston 95 downwardly. As the seat rib |05 on the valve piston is thusdisengaged from the gasket |96, communication is momentarily establishedbetween the chamber 99 and the atmospheric exhause chamber 91 by way ofthe passage ||5 and past the ball check valve H8, and the resultantequalization of pressures of fluid below and above the valve pistonfacilitates the desired snap-action thereof, together with theassociated valve elements 89 and 19, in assuming the positions in whichthese elements are shown in Fig. 2. The remaining pressure of fluid inthe pipe a is quickly reduced to thatl of the atmosphere uponestablishment of the communication between'the passage 92 and theatmospheric exhaust chamber 91. It will be understood that the drainvalve device to which the pipe 95a is connected is thereby renderedoperative again to discharge condensate from the associated reservoir.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description of two preferredembodiments of-my invention that a timing valve means constructed inaccordance therewith will be operative to eifect quick and positiveoperation of an associated drain valve mechanism in cycles of operationthat may be` accurately predetermined, according tov 1. In an automaticdrainage'equipment for a fluid pressure receptacla, the combination ofanautomatic drain valve device having -valve means responsive tovariationsin fluid pressure in a chamber for ejecting condensatedeposited in said receptacle, and timing means comprising a casinghaving a timingchamber, a lfirst valve controlling admission of,` uid;under pressure to said timing chamber,and snap-acting 4piston valvemeans cooperative with said rst valve and also operative to controlacommunication from said timing chamber to said chamber in the drainvalve device.

2. In an automatic vdrainage equipment for a iiuid pressure receptacle,the combination of an automatic drain valve device having valve meansresponsive to variations -in fluid pressure in a chamber for ejectingcondensate deposited in said'receptacle, and timing means comprising acasing having a timing chamber, a first valve 'controlling admission ofiiuid under pressure to said timing chamber, at a restricted rate, andsnap-acting vpiston valve .means cooperative with said rst valve andalso operative to establish a communication having one branch leadingfrom said tim-ing chamber to said'chamber in the drain valve device andanother restricted branch opening to the atmosphere. i

3. In an automatic drainage equipment for a fluid pressure receptacle,the combination of an automatic drain valve device having valve meansresponsive to variations in fluid Apressure in a chamberfor ejectingcondensate deposited in said receptacle, and timing means comprising acasing having a timing chamber, a rst valve controlling admission offluid under pressure to said timing chamber, a passageway in said casingconnected to said chamber inthe drain'valve device and to a restrictedvent port,` and snapacting piston valve means cooperating with said`having va timing chamber, a first valve controlling admission of fluid under pressure to said timing chamber, another valve controllingcommunication from said timingchamber to said chamber in the drain valvedevice, and fluid pressure responsive means controlled in accordancewith variations in the pressure of fluid in said timing chamber foractuating both of said valves.

5. In an automatic drainage equipment for a uid pressure receptacle, thecombination of an automatic drain valve device having valve meansresponsive to variations in fluid pressure in a chamber forejectingcondensate deposited in said receptacle, andtiming means comprising acasing having a timing chamber, a rst valve controlling admission offluid under pressure to said timing chamber, another valve controllingcommunicaton fromv said timing chamber to said chamber in the drainVvalve device, and a reciproeating valve vpiston controllingcommunication from'said timing chamber to said chamber in the drainlvalve device, said valve piston being constructed and arranged to movesuddenly from one position to the other in response to predeterminedchanges in the pressure of fluid in said timing chamber.

6. An automatic timing valve mechanism adapted for association with auid pressure responsive drain valve device for a uid pressure reservoir,comprising a casing having a timing chamber, a valve controllingadmission of iiuidv undervpressure from the reservoir to said timingchamber, snap-acting valve piston means subject to the pressure of fluidin said timing reservoir and operative to establish communicationtherefrom to said drain valve device, and yieldable means operativelyconnecting said piston valve means with the iirst named valve. y

7. An automatic timing valve mechanism adapted for association With'afluid pressure responsive drain valve device for a fluid pressure

